25 Days of Emison
by erin-dilaurentis
Summary: 25 oneshots every day of December leading right up to Christmas of our favorite couple doing all things winter-y and Christmas-y.
1. Chapter 1 - Snowball Fight

Day 1

 ** _Snowball Fight_**

"Ali, will you slow down already?" came from the brunette, walking as fast as her 6 inch high heels would let her after her girlfriend.

"I don't plan on it," Ali said, her arms crossed as she walked swiftly towards their car and away from Emily.

"I just don't understand why you're so angry! It's not even that big of a deal," Emily said. Wishing that one, her girlfriend would just slow the hell down, and two, that she hadn't worn these stupid boots.

"Are you _seriously_ asking me that right now?!" Ali asked, turning quickly around to give Emily one of her infamous cold shoulder looks that still sends shivers down Emily's back.

"Well, yeah because I'm not a mind reader, Alison! I know you very well but I can't always know exactly what you're thinking."

"Well, you've made it very clear that you don't exactly care about what I think anyway so what does it even matter?" Alison said, trying fiercely to bat the tears from her eyes.

" _That_ is not fair!" Emily said, getting progressively more frustrated with every passing word, "I wasn't trying to make you upset, you know that!"

"Please explain to me how you thinking bringing our girls for their pictures with Santa and not telling me wouldn't make me upset?"

"I'm sorry, Alison! I wanted to surprise you with them, I thought you'd like it. And maybe that was my mistake, but I am sorry. I've apologized a million times already, how many more times do I have to say it?" Emily asked, not knowing what else she was supposed to do.

"Until I believe you," Alison said, still not facing Emily.

"God, why are you being such a brat right now?"

Emily stopped in her tracks, tired of chasing after Alison. She tried to catch her breath and stop her legs from aching.

"Did you really just call me a brat?" Alison said, and Emily could hear the anger dripping from Alison's voice.

"I did!" Emily said back, "What are you going to do about it?"

Just as she turned back around she felt something cold and wet launch against her stomach, and the sound of laughter coming from the other side of the parking lot.

"Did you just throw a snowball at me?" Emily asked, trying her hardest not to crack a smile.

"I did! What are you gonna do about it?" Ali asked, her voice dripping with her signature Ali D attitude and repeating Emily word for word.

Emily quickly bent over and picked up a handful of snow, carefully pounding it into her hands.

"Emily!" Ali started, "Don't do it!"

Emily smirked and quickly threw the snowball, landing right on Alison's arm.

The two quickly started making and throwing snowballs at each other, all the while yelling and trying to get the other to stop.

"Emily Catherine! Stop it!" Alison yelled, trying her hardest to duck from Emily's throws.

"You started it, Alison Lauren!"

Alison swiftly threw one more snowball, but this time, it hit Emily square in the face. Emily's hands quickly flew to her nose.

"Oh my god," Alison's face fell, and she ran to Emily and grabbed her face in her hands, trying to see if she was bleeding or bruising anywhere.

"I'm okay," Emily said, her arms instinctively wrapping around Alison's waist.

"Baby," Alison said, tears in her eyes, "I'm so sorry. For this, for everything, I'm being so stupid. And I ruined our nice dinner that we were supposed to have which was our first time out in months with this stupid stuff and-"

Alison was talking so fast her face was turning blue, Emily pulled her closer and felt her start to relax against her.

"Babe, stop. It's all my fault, I should have thought more about it and taken you more into consideration. How could I honestly think that that wouldn't hurt you? And I am so _so_ sorry that I did," Emily said, tears starting to stream down her cheeks.

"You weren't trying to hurt me, I know that. You tried to do something nice for me. I'm sorry that I ruined it," Alison said, pressing her forehead to Emily's.

"I just know how stressed you've been and how much you've had going on. So this was one less thing that I didn't want you to worry about. I should have thought about you wanting to be there, and you're their mom. You should have been there. I'm so sorry, babe."

"I'm sorry, too."

"I love you," Emily said, moving to wipe the tears from Alison's cheeks.

"I love you more," Alison said, planting a sweet kiss to Emily's lips.

Emily took Alison's had in hers and they walked back to their car.

"I can't believe we just had a full on snowball fight in the parking lot of one of the nicest restaurants in the city."

Alison let out a laugh, "We should do it more often."


	2. Chapter 2 - Peeking at Presents

Day 2

 _ **Sneaking a Peak at Presents**_

Ali swiftly pulled up to her house, making sure to pay attention to whether or not any other cars were in her driveway. Thankfully, there weren't and she made her way to her front door.

She carefully unlocked it and stepped inside. The house was quiet, as it should be for the middle of the day, but just to make sure, she looked to see if any other jackets were hung up on the rack or any other sets of keys were sitting on their table near the door.

 _All clear,_ she thought.

"Babe?" she called out, just to triple check. When there was no answer, she had a silent victory and quickly took off her shoes and her coat. Throwing both of them on the floor and her keys landing somewhere on the table.

She made her way into their living room, and took a second to stare at the gorgeous tree that took them 4 hours to pick out, and all night to decorate because Emily wanted it to be just _perfect._

Ali thought it was actually adorable how much effort Emily was willing to put in to make sure that this Christmas was everything anyone could ever want it to be.

Especially, when Emily kept saying that she was got Alison the most _perfect_ Christmas present. Which actually was driving Alison a little insane. This was their first official Christmas together and Alison was all out of sorts.

She _needed_ to know what it was that had Emily so excited to exchange gifts, and she needed to know now.

She told Emily she was doing some last minute shopping during their lunch break at work and she'd see her at the next period. Meaning she had approximately 45 minutes to try and find out what Emily bought her.

Thankfully, they had started putting presents under the tree last night as they were decorating, so Alison was hoping it wouldn't be too much of a scavenger hunt to try and find hers.

She carefully moved out the meticulously wrapped presents for all their friends and family, being sure to remember exactly where they all were previously so she could put them back.

Just behind the new personalized sign they bought for Spencer and Toby's new house, was a package, hidden just right. It wasn't too big, or too small. Alison carefully picked it up, taking a moment to run her fingers over Emily's handwritten tag.

 _"To: The Love of my Life. Merry Christmas. xx"_

The sentiment made her tear up, she still couldn't believe that someone would ever describe emher /emas being the love of their life. Let alone the girl that has had her heart for over a decade. Sometimes it still didn't feel real.

Alison smiled and flipped the package over. She gave it a quick squeeze, but neither the weight nor the feeling was definitive of what the hell this thing could be.

She quickly slid her fingernails underneath one of the pieces of tape at the top, careful not to rip the paper.

"What are you doing?" came from behind her.

 _"Shit,"_ Alison thought to herself.

"Um," Alison said, turning around to see Emily leaning up against the doorway of their living room, her infamous smirk on her face.

"Nothing, what are you doing?"

"Watching you try to sneak a peek at your presents," Emily said, a chuckle escaping her.

"I was curious," Alison said, putting her present back and standing up.

"I see that," Emily said, laughing again.

"How did you even know I was home? I told you I was going shopping," Alison asked, moving to lean up against the back of their couch.

"Because I know you," Emily asked, moving towards Alison and putting her arms around her shoulders, "and you were eyeing up those presents all last night."

"Just tell me what it is!" Alison pleaded, trying to put on her best puppy dog eyes.

This only caused Emily to laugh again, "Not a chance, babe. You have to wait for Christmas like all the other girls and boys."

"I hate you," Alison said, a smile pulling at the edges of her mouth.

"I know," Emily said, kissing her forehead, "But you don't like Christmas, and I am determined to make everyone from here on out perfect."

Alison wound her arms tighter around Emily's waist and pulled her closer, "Do you honestly think that any day spent with you would be less than perfect?"

Emily smiled and planted a sweet kiss to Alison's lips.

"Come on," Alison said, moving to stand up, "let's go get some lunch."

"Yes," Emily said, taking Alison's extended hand, "I'm starving."

"Me too."

"Oh," Emily said, "and don't expect that present to be there when we get home tonight. If you honestly think I'm gonna leave it there for your sticky fingers, you've got another thing coming."

Alison rolled her eyes dramatically, "I really hate you."

"I love you too, pumpkin."


	3. Chapter 3 - I Still Love You

Day 3

 _ **I haven't seen you in years and you showed up to my family's Christmas party, and I still love you.**_

Sometimes you fall in love with the most unexpected person. Sometimes it's your worst enemy. Sometimes it's a complete stranger. Sometimes it's someone you've known for years. Sometimes it's your best friend.

Sometimes it works out.

 _And_ sometimes it doesn't.

Sometimes you go your separate ways, peacefully, lovingly. Sometimes you run into each other every couple of months, you catch up and say "see you later."

And sometimes you don't see them for years. Or ever again.

Sometimes they never cross your mind. And sometimes, they're all you can ever think about.

The way they walked, the feeling of their arms wrapped around you, the smell of their shampoo as they walked by, the warmth of their hand in yours. All of those thoughts and feelings replay year after year, month after month, like it's burned into your soul.

Sometimes you find your way back. And maybe, sometimes, it actually works.

xXx

Alison DiLaurentis was a classic in the town of Rosewood, everyone knew her name, some new her story, but only one person every truly knew _her._

She didn't let herself open up to anyone, it was too hard, and she learned too well that you only ever get hurt.

But sometimes, she wanted to pick up that phone, and dial the number that she would never admit she still knew by heart and listen to the smooth voice of only one person.

But she never did.

It was December, one of her favorite times of the year. The air was cold and crisp. The grass crunched under the sound of her boots from the overnight frost. And you could just smell the snow in the atmosphere working it's way to her small little town.

 _"Hopefully we'll have a white Christmas this year,"_ she thought to herself as she crossed the threshold into her house. The warm, toasty air enveloped her like a hug the second she walked in.

And the various smells that came from her kitchen had her stomach growling immediately.

Tonight was her family's infamous Christmas bash, and her mom had spent the better part of the past two days slaving over all the appetizers, courses, and deserts for this evening. Alison had even found her asleep at the kitchen table earlier that morning.

She went inside to go see if her mom needed any help, and waited with baited breath for what this evening had in store. There was always an unplanned surprise that came crashing in at this party, and Alison surely was not prepared for hers.

xXx

Some three hours later the house was decorated, the food all splayed out on the dining room table, and the rooms filled to the brim with guests. Alison secretly loved this party, it was the only time that she would see all her friends and family. And she relished in the one night where everyone she loved was in just one room.

Well, not _everyone_.

Just as she was berating herself for thinking about the _one_ person she told herself she wouldn't tonight, came a knock at her door.

"I'll get it," she yelled to no one in particular, and straightened her dress as she made her way to the front door. She made sure to check her hair quickly in the mirror before greeting her newly arrived guest.

Just as Alison opened the front door, everything seemed to be going in slow motion. She was met with a face she hadn't seen in almost 5 years, and yet she felt like she was 15 years old all over again, giddily in love with her best friend.

"Hey, you," the voice said, "long time, no see."

"Oh, my God," Alison said, trying fiercely to stop the tears flow from her eyes.

 _"She's even more beautiful than I remember,"_ Alison thought to herself.

"Merry Christmas, Ali," the voice said, "Can I come in? It's freezing out here."

"Absolutely!" Alison said, moving out of the way, "What are you doing here?"

They quickly pulled each other into a hug, one that lasted both too long, and not long enough. Alison immediately felt sick again at the feeling of those arms wrapped around her, a feeling she never thought she'd feel again as long as she lived.

"My family came back east for the holidays, and my mom ran into yours at the market and invited us. My parents are with my grandma tonight, so I thought I'd just come. Is that okay?"

"Are you kidding?" Alison said, "It's more than okay! I can't believe you didn't tell me you were coming back."

It wasn't exactly like they talked much anymore, if at all. But still, she always promised to keep Alison up to date.

"I wanted to surprise you," she said, smiling sheepishly.

Alison's heart skipped a beat, and without words she invited the girl inside. This night was definitely going to be an interesting one.

A few hours later, after many reunions and many plates of food later, Alison was found sitting alone on the couch in her living room.

"Can I sit?"

"Of course," Alison said, moving over.

"I forgot how good of a cook your mom was.""I'll be sure to tell her you said so."

It was silent for a moment, but Alison couldn't bite her tongue any longer.

"Emily, why are you here?"

"I told you," Emily said, "Our moms ran into each other and-"

"No," Alison said, "Why are you _here?_ "

Emily took a deep breath, "I wanted to see you."

"Why?" Alison asked, "It's been 5 years, Em."

"You don't think I know that? I just couldn't fathom coming back here and not seeing you."

"So what now? You're just gonna leave again and I won't see you for another 5 years?" Alison asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Actually, no." Emily said. Alison's eyes immediately shot up to meet hers, "I was planning on telling you later, but I'm moving back here. I got a job up in the city."

"Are you serious?"

"I start after the new year."

"Well, congratulations," Alison said, "that's amazing."

"I'm sorry for leaving, you know that I didn't want to," Emily said, her eyes welling with tears this time.

"I know. But Em, I have to be honest. You can't just walk into my life again. I can't just be your best friend again and act like we never had anything."

"I don't want you to do that," Emily said.

"So what do you want?" Alison asked, her voice raw with pain.

"You."

Alison's eyes searched Emily's fiercely. Her head was spinning.

"But I also know that I've hurt you, badly. And I think about that and regret it every single day of my life. And I will never be able to apologize enough to you. But I have thought about you every day since I left, and I never want to spend another day without you by my side. You're the love of my life, Ali. You always have been."

Alison felt a tear roll down her cheek, she had never expected her day to pan out like this. She reached up and rubbed her thumb against Emily's cheek, before carefully pulling her closer, their lips meeting ever so softly. Alison pulled away first but pressed her forehead against Emily's.

"So, I guess you still love me."

"I don't think I ever stopped."


	4. Chapter 4 - Snuggling by Fire

Day 4

 _ **Snuggling by the Fire**_

"Ugh," Alison sighed, flopping down on the couch after hours of running around, "I am exhausted."

"Me too," Emily said, flopping down next to her and hooking her leg over Alison's.

"I feel like there's still a million things we have left to do," Alison said, gently rubbing circles on Emily's knee.

"Because there is," Emily replied, laughing gently when Alison let out a rather dramatic groan.

"Let's keep working then," Alison said, moving to get back up.

"No," Emily said, reaching to pull her back down, "Ali, we've been going all day since we got home, there's nothing more we can do tonight."

They'd spent the better part of their day decorating the house, wrapping presents, and cooking. They started the second they both got home from work, and only just stopped now at quarter past 11pm. A whole seven hours straight and Emily didn't think her feet could take anymore. They were hosting Christmas this year, their first one since they got married, and Alison and Emily wanted everything to be beyond perfect.

So much so that they couldn't even sit down and enjoy the holiday, or the hundreds of dollars in new decorations they'd picked out together. And it was definitely weighing on them.

"I know, babe but-"

"No," Emily cut off, "no buts. Just take a breath. It'll all be there tomorrow for us, it's not going anywhere."

Alison took a deep breath, and rested her head on Emily's shoulder, "You're right. As always."

Emily pressed a kiss to Alison's forehead. Just as they were both finally getting relaxed, they heard one of the girls stirring upstairs.

"I'll go," Alison said, getting up and walking towards the stairs.

Once Alison was out of sight, Emily shot up off the couch and began getting to work. She grabbed all the blankets and pillows from their bedroom and in the hall closet. She dimmed all the lights and grabbed some wood and matches.

When Alison came back down, she was met with a roaring fire wrapping around her like a hug. There Emily sat on a sea of blankets and pillows, soft Christmas music playing and all their fairy lights on, illuminating their living room.

"What's all this?" Alison asked, crossing the living room towards Emily.

"Come here," Emily said, reaching a hand up to pull Alison down, immediately wrapping her arms around her and putting a blanket around them both.

"Look at all of this," Emily said, "don't say anything. Just enjoy it."

They were quiet for a moment, just taking in the house in all it's Christmas glory. They looked at the little life that they had built, the toys in the corner, the pictures on the mantle, the drawings hung up on the wall. It was all theirs, and it was all perfect.

"Let's just stay here forever," Alison said, finally breaking the silence.

"Works for me," Emily said, wrapping her arms tighter around Alison.

"We really outdid ourselves, I have to say. This place looks amazing."

"It does. Good job, babe."

"Good job, baby," Alison said, reaching up to press a kiss to Emily's lips. "And thank you for this. Thank you for always being there to slow me down, and keep me sane."

"It's my job. Every day."

"And every Christmas."

"For the rest of our lives."


	5. Chapter 5 - Holiday Movie

Day #5

 ** _Holiday Movie_**

It had been a long day, longer than usual. Ali had had tests in 3 of her classes, a presentation in another and about 10 hours of homework assigned for the rest of the week. And to make it worse, she had barely seen or talked to her girlfriend all day. They originally planned on having lunch together, and Ali was looking forward to it all day, but Emily had texted her during first period and said that she had to take a makeup test during lunch.

It had just turned 4 o'clock and Alison took a pause from her homework, knowing that any minute Emily would be getting out of swim practice and would call her like she does everyday. When Emily finally did call her, Alison knew right away something was wrong.

"What's wrong, babe? You're not yourself," Alison said, concerned.

"It's nothing, I'm okay. Just tired," Emily said.

"Liar. Come on, talk to me," Alison pushed.

Emily took a deep breath, "I don't know. Just had a bad day is all."

"What happened?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure I'm not getting any calls from the coach from Stanford," Emily said. Alison could hear the disappointment in her voice.

"Why? They loved you."

"They did. But the coach came again today to watch practice and I was just off my game. My times were later than usual, like really late. Definitely not my best swimming."

"Babe, you had an off day. It happens, and I'm sure the coach is going to see that, and recognize it. He knows your better than that," Ali said. She hated whenever Emily was upset.

"Yeah but this is Stanford, Ali, they don't mess around. They want serious athletes."

"Which you are."

"I guess," Emily said.

"You are! You know you are. You're the best on the Rosewood team, by a lot."

"I'm just really ready for this semester to be over. Christmas break can't come soon enough."

"I know, but it's so soon. Just two more weeks, baby."

"And we haven't even started doing anything! We've been so busy with finals and everything. We haven't watched Elf once," Emily said.

Elf was Emily's all time favorite Christmas movie. And Ali had promised to watch it at least once a week with Emily as long as Emily promised to take her to the city to see the tree in Rockerfeller Center. But with all that had been happening in school with senior year and applying for colleges and exams, that they hadn't gotten to do any of that. And being that Christmas was Emily's favorite time of year, Ali knew that this was weighing heavily on her.

"I'm sorry, I know I'm complaining," Emily said. She hated complaining, she always felt like she was burdening people.

"Don't apologize. You know that's what I'm here for. I love you," Ali said, wishing there was something she could do to make Emily feel better.

"I love you more. I think I'm gonna go babe, I want to take a nap before studying for tomorrow."

"Okay, babe. Text me later?"

"Of course."

They hung up, and Alison felt horrible. She hated more than anything when Emily was upset. It was just then and there that an idea came to her. She grabbed her phone again and started making some phone calls. It was high time she cashed in on some favors owed to her.

4 hours later, everything was planning out exactly the way Alison wanted it to. And if this didn't make Emily feel better, then nothing would.

She pulled up to Emily's house and waited for her to answer her phone.

"Hey, you," Emily said, not sounding any better than when they had talked before.

"Come outside."

"What?"

"You heard me. Come outside. And dress warm."

"Are we going somewhere?"

"You'll see," Alison said in her infamously suave voice.

"Be right down."

Emily reached Ali's car and quickly got in, the cold air piercing through her clothes. She immediately reached for Alison and kissed her soundly. She felt Alison smile against her lips.

"I missed you today," Alison said, playing with a piece of Emily's hair.

"I missed you," Emily said, pressing a kiss to Alison's forehead.

"Buckle up," Alison said, moving to put the car in drive.

"Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise."

Within 10 minutes, they were behind the old Rosewood paper factory. It's been abandoned for years and no one comes out here anymore expect for kids who want somewhere to go party during the summer. But tonight it was the location of Alison's super secret surprise.

"What are we doing here?" Emily asked, looking around.

"Just wait."

"Waiting."

In 2 minutes, a bright light came from behind them, illuminating the entirety of the back wall of the building. Sound engulfed them all around.

"What is going on?" Emily asked, watching as Alison turned around and grabbed bags and bags of snacks from the backseat.

"Eyes ahead, Fields," Alison said, handing Emily a can of soda.

Just as they settled in, the opening credits to Elf started playing.

"You didn't."

"I did," Alison said, snuggling into Emily's side.

"How? Why?"

"You had a bad day. And I know you've been bummed that we haven't been doing anything Christmas-y so I wanted to do something to hopefully make you feel a little bit better after today."

"You did all of this because I had a bad day?" Emily asked, wrapping her arm around Alison.

"I would do anything if it meant seeing you smile," Alison said, leaning in to kiss Emily again.

They turned back to watch their movie, and suddenly, it began to feel like Christmas.


	6. Chapter 6 - Christmas Cookies

Day 6

 _ **Christmas Cookies**_

"Girls! Come downstairs," Emily yelled up the stairs to the twins. It was a chilly, Saturday morning in the DiLaurentis-Fields home, and Emily was ready to kick off the Christmas preparations.

Two young brunettes came barreling down the stairs, they headed into the kitchen where they heard the sounds of their moms's voices.

"There they are," Emily said, crossing over to the girls and kneeling down to their level.

Alison, who was in the process of feeding baby Wayne, watched with fondness. She always loved how excited Emily got around Christmas, and she was glad that the kids were all following in suit.

"What's going on?" Grace asked, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet, something she always did when she was excited.

"How would you girls like to help me and your mom make some Christmas cookies?" Emily asked, delighted when both their faces lit up like, well, Christmas trees.

"Only if I can lick the spoon," Lily yelled, already making her way to where Emily had all the ingredients spread out on the counter.

"Lily, you know you have to share with Gracie," Alison said, putting Wayne in his highchair.

"Fine," Lily said, waiting patiently to start the process.

They'd always watched Emily and Alison bake all different types of treats. But this would be the first time they'd get an actual, real, hand in the process.

"What do we have to do?" Grace asked, joining her sister by the counter.

"Well, before you can do anything," Alison started, "you have to dress the part."

Emily and Alison quickly turned around and grabbed two aprons from the hook on the wall. They quickly secured them on the girls and moved to bring over the step stools for them to stand on.

Once they were high enough to reach the counter, the process began. Within 5 minutes, all four of them were covered in flower, and Wayne was giggling softly in his chair.

"Okay girls. Try and crack your eggs."

They did and a surprisingly minimal amount of shells ended up in the mix.

They took turns stirring and adding ingredients to their moms's instructions and before they knew it,

Emily was putting the cookie sheet into the oven. Alison was moving to pull the icing out of the fridge.

"Now what?" Lily asked.

"Now we wait," Alison said.

"Well that's boring," Grace said, "Can we go watch TV?"

"Yes," Emily said, laughing, "But keep it low, it's Wayne's nap time."

An hour later, the cookies were cooled, and the four women of the DiLaurentis-Fields home were back in the kitchen, decorating away.

Of course, Grace wanted every cookie to be pink, and Lily wanted yellow. Such Christmas spirit.

But they didn't oppose to the traditional Christmas colored icing and sprinkles once they realized that they could add as many sprinkles and candy to their cookies as they wanted.

Just as the last of the cookies were being finished up, Grace and Lily shot each other a look. That twin thing really did come in handy sometimes. Without words, they both shot around and plastered icing onto each of their moms's faces.

"Okay," Alison said, reaching around for a finger full of icing, "you two are in for it now."

Moments later, every cheek, nose, shirt and strand of hair was filled with icing and the house was full of cheers and laughter. And though it sure was a pain in the ass to clean up afterward, Emily and Alison vowed to make this a yearly tradition, food fight and all.

At least the cookies were good.


	7. Chapter 7 - Mistletoe

Day 7

 ** _Mistletoe_**

Emily was the new girl in town. Alison was the popular girl. Never would you pair these two together out of a line up, but somehow, someway, where one was, the other was sure to follow. It was like they were two ends of a magnet and the universe was slowly pushing them together.

It started with first period history, they had sat next to each other on the first day. And since Emily had just freshly transferred to Rosewood High, Alison offered to share her textbook so Emily could follow.

Then, Emily asked Alison for help in one of their other classes. Being new was never easy, but especially not when you transferred in halfway through a semester. Alison gladly helped wherever she could, making sure Emily was never falling behind.

Then, they started eating lunch together.

Then, after school coffee.

Then, walking home together.

And before they both knew it, they were attached at the hip. Sleepovers every weekend, shopping trips after school, and spilling secrets left and right. Within just a few short weeks, they had gone from complete strangers to knowing everything about each other.

Well, maybe not _everything._

The feelings that were quickly forming for the other was something that caught the both of them off guard. It seemed like overnight they went from just seeing each other in school to counting down the minutes until they could meet up and walk to their next class together. Until they could walk home together after school. Until they could spend the whole weekend with each other.

But they couldn't dare say anything to each other, they could barely admit it to themselves. And the worst part of it was, that the person they needed to talk about it the most with, was the exact person they couldn't.

xXx

Christmas in Rosewood was definitely an experience. Emily described it as a "winter wonderland." Which of course, made Alison laugh. But if she was honest, the smile that Alison saw on Emily's face when they were walking around town taking in all the decorations, made her heart skip a beat. She never knew someone's smile could become her favorite thing on the earth, but Emily's sure was.

They were on their way to a Christmas party that their friend Spencer was throwing. It was the only thing that had gotten them through the last week of horrific finals. It was the perfect excuse to blow off that after-the-semester steam.

They arrived a few moments later, and the party was in full swing. Everyone was laughing, dancing and celebrating making it through another semester of high school. Ali and Emily quickly found their friends and began to enjoy their night, but it was getting harder and harder to hide their feelings for each other, and they didn't know how much longer they'd be able to fight it.

When Emily came back from the bathroom to see Noel Kahn practically laying at Alison's feet, she couldn't handle it anymore. She needed some air, and definitely some space. She made her way outside, and once her head cleared a little, she mentally punched herself for not grabbing her jacket. Just as her teeth were beginning to chatter, she felt a warm hand on her back.

There Alison stood with Emily's jacket in her hands.

"I thought you might need this," Alison said, handing it over.

"Thanks," Emily said, putting it on.

"What's wrong? I saw you run out there," Alison asked, concerned. More concerned than she probably should be.

"Nothing, I just needed some air," Emily lied.

"Since when did we start lying to each other? Talk to me, Em."

"Ali, really. It's nothing. Just drop it," Emily bit back, moving to walk back inside.

"No, something is going on that you're not telling me about. That's not how we work, Em. That's never been how we've worked. Please, just tell me what it is." Maybe Alison needed to follow her own advice.

"I can't," Emily said, thankful that it was dark out so she could quickly bat away the tears in her eyes.

"It's you and me, against the world, remember? Always. What could be so horrifically bad that you can't tell me?"

Emily took a deep breath, feeling tears roll down her cheeks, "That I love you."

Alison's breath caught in her throat, and tears immediately sprang to her eyes. She crossed the space between them in two strides and grabbed Emily's face, bringing it to hers. Their lips came crashing together, Emily deepening the kiss.

Alison was the first one to pull away, but pressed her forehead against Emily's, needing to still feel Emily's skin against hers.

"I love you, too," Alison said, her heart bursting when she saw that gorgeous smile again.

When they finally pulled away, something caught their eye. They looked up, and noticed that they were standing right under a sprig of mistletoe.

And a Merry Christmas it was.


	8. Chapter 8 - Christmas Gifts

Day 8

 ** _Christmas Gifts_**

It was noon, the house was quiet. There was wrapping paper in every corner of the living room. All three kids were fast asleep on the couch, all tuckered out from the Christmas morning excitement and all their new toys.

Emily and Alison were enjoying a nice, quiet, cup of coffee in their kitchen. Relishing in the last few moments of peace before they started cleaning up and preparing for all the company that was to show up within just a few short hours.

"So," Emily said, drawing circles on Alison's palm, "I think we can safely say we gave the kids a successful Christmas."

"We most definitely did. They were so excited to give you their presents," Alison said, taking a sip of her coffee.

"I never knew how much I needed a macaroni frame until today," Emily said, laughing slightly.

"And don't forget your personalized key lanyard," Alison added.

"How could I ever?"

"Well, since they're asleep, I wanna give you your present."

"You read my mind, babe."

A few moments later, they returned to their table, presents in hand.

"You open first," Emily said, pushing a small box towards her.

Alison carefully unwrapped the paper and saw a jewelry box. She opened it tentatively, and her breath caught in her throat at the beautiful necklace inside. Two small hearts, each made from a different stone, connected at the end, glimmered back up at her.

"The one is a pearl and the other is topaz. It's our birthstones. I wanted them connecting so you know that my heart, is always with yours."

"Babe," Alison said, her voice thick with tears, "this is beautiful. I love it so much. Thank you."

Alison leaned over and pressed a sweet kiss to Emily's lips.

"You're very welcome," Emily said, leaning over to help Alison latch the clasp.

"Okay, my turn," Alison said, moving around to pick up the rather large package from behind her.

Emily opened the wrapping to find a frame. Inside was a print of a constellations, underneath it had a caption of, "The best night of my life."

"This," Alison started, "is a constellation map. It's what the sky looked like on the night that I told you I loved you. I always say that there was something in the air that night, and that the stars have always brought me back to you. And it's a night I never want to forget, because it truly was the best night of my life. It brought me to my soulmate."

"Baby," Emily said, it was turn for her voice to be thick with tears. She immediately reached for Alison, kissing her soundly. "This is amazing. Thank you."

"You're welcome. I'm glad you like it," Alison said, smiling and playing with her new necklace.

"I love it. And you."

"Merry Christmas, babe," Alison said.

"Merry Christmas," Emily said, leaning into kiss Alison once again.


	9. Chapter 9 - Those Were for Santa

Day 9

 ** _"Those cookies were for Santa."_**

"Are they asleep?" Alison asked. She was in the kitchen doing the last of the dishes.

"Yes, finally. It only took 2 bedtime stories each and promise of banana chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast to finally get them to shut their eyes," Emily said, flopping down on the couch.

"I'm surprised they gave in that quickly. All they talked about all night was staying up to see Santa."

"Yeah, but who could say no to my banana chocolate chip pancakes?" Emily threw a wink over her shoulder and laughed when Alison threw a dish towel at her.

"You're so annoying," Alison said, retrieving her towel.

"Yet you still keep me around," Emily said, blowing Alison a kiss.

"When do you wanna bring down the presents?" Alison asked, putting a mug in their cabinet and moving back to the sink.

"In an hour?"

"Works for me," Alison said.

"I am gonna have one of these cookies though. They've been staring at me all night," Emily said, reaching for one of the cookies from the plate on their coffee table.

"Save me one!"

Just as Emily was sinking her teeth into one of the chewy sugar cookies, she heard footsteps from behind her. She turned around to see two very sleepy 5-year-olds staring back at her, shock in their eyes.

"Hey kids," Emily said, panic running across her face. She could hear Alison snickering from the kitchen. How come _she_ never got caught doing these things?

"Mama," Grace started, crossing her arms and fixing Emily with an expression that made Emily's toes curl. Wonder who she got that from.

"Yes, baby?" Emily asked, swallowing hard on her cookie. Suddenly they didn't taste so good.

"Those cookies were for Santa!" they both shouted. Making Emily's ears ring. The laughter from the kitchen only got louder. How was this fair?

"I know but-"

"Now he's not gonna have any cookies to eat and he's not gonna come bring us presents," Lily yelled, her face red with anger. She was just like Emily, forgetting to breathe whenever she was mad.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Emily started, grabbing one of each of their hands and pulling them closer, "Santa is still coming! I just talked to him on the phone."

"Really?" Grace asked, rubbing at her eye.

"Yes!" Emily said, "He called and said he's running a little off schedule, one of the reindeer ate one too many carrots. He told me he's on his way, and that I should just eat the cookies."

"He did?" Lily asked, still a little skeptical. She was so smart, sometimes it was really annoying.

"He did! I protested of course. I said 'Santa, I can't eat _your_ cookies! That's just not right. And he said 'Emily, please do. If I eat one more cookie, Mrs. Claus is gonna put me on a strict no-cocoa diet. And you _know_ how much I love my cocoa.' So that's why you caught me eating the cookies. Only because I'm on orders from the man himself. I would _never_ just eat his cookies."

"Yeah, cause he'd put you on the naughty list," Grace said around a yawn.

"Exactly! And who wants that? Not me, and especially not two little girls who better get their butts up to bed. He's going to be here any minute! Go run back upstairs! Go, go, go."

Grace and Lily did as they were told and barreled back up the stairs. Emily flopped back against the couch and let out a huge sigh. Alison came in a few seconds later and sat next to her, patting her thigh.

"Good save, babe," she said, trying to stifle another laugh.

"I can't believe that worked," Emily said, running her hands through her hair.

"Life is bliss when you're five," Alison said, reaching for a cookie and taking a bite.

"How come you never get caught?"

"Because I'm just _that_ good," Alison said, pressing a kiss to Emily's lips before she could protest.


	10. Chapter 10 - Wrapping Presents

Day 10

 ** _Wrapping Presents_**

"Babe!" Emily called from the living room, "Come in here. I wanna get started on the wrapping before we go pick up the kids from my moms."

"Ugh," Alison said, coming to sit next to Emily on the floor. "I hate wrapping. Can't we just put all these in bags or something?" Alison asked, motioning to the mountain of presents on the floor.

Emily gasped, _very_ dramatically. This made Alison start to giggle.

" _No._ We cannot just put this in bags. Are you crazy?" Emily asked.

"But I hate wrapping," Alison said, whining like a 5-year-old and flopping her head back against the the couch cushions.

"Only because you're terrible at it," Emily remarked, ducking her head and starting to laugh.

"You know," Alison started, moving to get up, "you can do all of this yourself."

"No," Emily said, quickly reaching for Alison's hand and stilling her movements, "I want your help."

"Fine," Alison said, moving to sit down again, "but only because you're cute."

Emily blushed, and handed Alison a present and some scissors.

Alison started to wrap the small box that Emily handed her. The second she started, Emily knew that this was a disaster in the making.

"Okay, okay, okay. I'm gonna stop you right there," Emily said, moving to carefully remove the tape and scissors from Alison's hands.

"You know I'm not good at this," Alison laughed.

"Come here," Emily said, spreading her legs and motioning for Alison to sit in between them. Her back to Emily's front.

"It's easy. Let me show you how to do it. You're gonna learn from the master," Emily said, grabbing the wrapping paper from behind her.

"Show me your ways," Alison said, giggling yet again.

"Maybe later," Emily said, winking at Alison.

"Okay, so," Emily said, laying out the paper in front of Alison, "cut here and here."

Alison did just that.

"Fold here and tape there."

Alison followed.

"Now, fold in the corners like this. Here, you do the other side."

Alison copied Emily's movements exactly. The look of concentration hard on her face. Emily reached up to move a chunk of hair from Alison's neck and she kissed it softly.

"Okay, good. Now fold that end up and the other down. And tape there."

"Okay, now the other side?" Alison asked.

"Yup."

Alison folded and taped the other side and it came out, well, perfectly.

"Babe, thats perfect."

"Liar," Alison laughed, placing the last piece of tape.

"I'm not! It's really good. I'm proud of you!"

"Is it really that good?" Alison asked, checking out her work again.

"Yes! You'll be a pro at this after all," Emily said, handing Alison a tag.

"I never had to do this kind of stuff," Alison said, filling out the to and from.

"What do you mean?" Emily said.

Alison turned slightly so they could look at each other, "Wrapping presents wasn't a thing in my family. Jessica always had everything sent out to be wrapped, and Kenneth just threw everything in a bag. So I never learned how to do this. I never had to."

Emily could see the emotions running through Alison's mind. She wrapped her arms tighter around Alison's waist.

"There was a lot of things I never got to do. I missed out on so much," Alison said, batting the tears from her eyes.

Emily quickly grabbed Alison's face and kissed her sweetly.

"Well, you're never going to miss out on anything else. Everything you want to experience, everything you want to do. You will do it. I promise you that."

Alison leaned forward to kiss Emily again, "Thank you."

"Especially when it comes to all things Christmas. You know that I'm all about that," Emily smiled at her.

"And I wouldn't want it any other way."


	11. Chapter 11 - Drunk the Christmas Party

Day 11

this is a long one lmao i may have gotten a bit carried away

 ** _Someone gets drunk at the Christmas party and confesses feelings while the other sober one is taking care of them._**

When Alison had arrived to the Kahn Christmas Bash, the party was already in full swing. Almost everyone there was already tipsy at the least. And half the football team was passed out in the downstairs den.

Ali quickly spotted her friends, each with a beverage in hand.

"Are you gonna get a drink?" Aria asked.

"Yeah I might go grab one. I'm definitely not going crazy tonight though," she said, looking around the group of people. Someone was missing.

"Yeah good idea, we don't need Jason on your ass again," Spencer said.

"Where's Emily?" Alison asked.

"I think she was getting something to eat," Hanna said, looking around.

"I'm gonna go see if I can find her," Alison said, detaching herself from the group. Emily had been acting weird around her all week. And Alison was really over it. She was gonna ask Emily once and for all what was going on.

She quickly found her in the kitchen, chugging a beer.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Alison said, quickly rushing to Emily's side and taking the can from her hands, "slow down there, killer."

"Where's the fun in that?" Emily asked, her voice dripping with attitude. This was going to be a fun one. "Give it back."

"No way," Alison asked, reaching for some water. "Drink this."

"Who made you the boss?" Emily said, reaching for another beer.

"What is wrong with you?" Alison asked, "You've been weird all week."

"You're what's wrong with me," Emily bit back.

Alison was shocked, Emily never spoke to her like this.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Alison asked, crossing her arms and fixing Emily with a pointed look.

"Exactly what I said," Emily said, her words beginning to slur, "you're my problem."

"What did I do?" Alison asked, tears welling up in her eyes. There was nothing she hated more than when Emily was upset with her.

"Nothing, Alison. You did nothing," Emily said, turning around and trying to walk away from Alison. But the drinks must have hit her all at once because her legs started to give out from under her. Luckily, Alison was there in a second flat and caught her before Emily full on wiped out.

"Come on. I'm taking you home," Alison said. Emily didn't protest which Alison knew meant that she was on the verge of probably passing out any minute. And Alison knew she couldn't bring Emily home, Pam would kill the both of them. She knew the only safe thing would be to bring Emily back to her house and let her sleep it off.

She managed to drag Emily back to her car, luckily Emily was so drunk she stopped protesting the second they left the kitchen. It was quiet the majority of the ride, Alison was trying to rack her brain to remember what it was that she could have done that made Emily so upset with her.

"You didn't do anything," Emily spoke up a few moments later, almost as if she could read Alison's mind.

"Yes, you've said that. But I don't understand what you're so mad at me about," Alison said, trying to get Emily to look at her.

"I can't tell you. I can't tell anyone," Emily said.

"Em," Ali said.

"Just leave it alone," Emily said, turning her whole body away from Alison.

Alison managed to get Emily in her house and into bed without waking everyone up. Within minutes, Emily was all snuggled up in Alison's pink comforter, her eyes getting heavier and heavier with every passing moment. Alison sat down next to her, and gently moved the hair out of Emily's face, her fingers playing with the ends. She couldn't help herself.

"Stop," she heard Emily say, she was sure Emily was asleep by now.

"Why?" Alison said. Why was Emily trying to hard to push her away.

"Cause it's not real. None of it would be real," Emily said, her eyes still closed.

"What does that mean?"

"You don't love me."

"That's not true, Em. You know that I love you," Alison said, tears springing to her eyes again. If only Emily knew.

"Not like I love you," Emily finally said, the slightest crack in her voice. And finally, Alison understood.

"Em," Ali started, but she didn't know what to say.

"I wish it could be me. I wish I could have walked into that Christmas party with you. Hold your hand, kiss you under the mistletoe, walk around and see the lights and decorations all around time. Just be with you. It's always going to be you for me. But it's never going to be me for you," Emily said, burrowing herself deeper into the covers.

"Go to sleep," Alison said. She moved to get up off the bed, but she felt a hand on hers. She saw Emily's sweet brown eyes looking back at her.

"Can you stay with me?" she asked, her voice small.

"If you want me to."

Alison squeezed in next to Emily, wrapping the covers around them both. Emily immediately laid her head on Alison's shoulder. Once Alison knew Emily was asleep, she wrapped her arms around Emily, holding her close. She pressed a kiss to Emily's forehead and played with her hair again.

The next morning came much too quickly for Alison's liking. She hadn't slept a wink, her mind was running and running all night. She felt Emily starting to stir against her. It was time to stop hiding.

Emily woke a few moments later, and Alison knew she had no idea where the hell she was.

"Hi," Emily said, trying to not make eye contact with Alison. She definitely remembered the events from the night before. She tried to get up and out of Alison's grasp.

"Wait," Alison said, trying to get Emily to stay.

Emily just looked at her. Alison took a deep breath.

"I want all of those things. Everything you said last night. The mistletoe, the Christmas decorations, the handholding. All of it. It is you, Em. It always has been," Alison said, tears in her eyes again.

Alison quickly reached for Emily. She pressed her forehead against Emily's. They stayed like this for a few moments, being in each other's space. They don't know who leaned in first, but their lips captured the others, leaving them both breathless.

"Well Merry Christmas to us," Emily said, smiling the biggest smile Alison has ever seen and leaning in again.


	12. Chapter 12 - Can You Come Save Me?

Day 12

 _ **My car got stuck in snow. Can you come save me?**_

They had been fighting. All night, at each other's throats. Over something stupid, of course, but when it came to these two, they fought big. It started over a disagreement about who's house they were going to first for Christmas, and somehow ended up being about every single thing that had been on their minds for the past few months. It wasn't pretty.

They had realized quickly that this was going to be an all night brawl if they didn't stop soon. They didn't fight often, they were very few and far between. But when they did, they promised they would never, ever walk away from each other.

But with that being said, they both needed a breather. Alison was going to go for a drive, she needed to clear her head.

She told Emily she'd be back soon and got in her car. A long, quiet drive was just exactly what she needed. It was always her go to way to sort through her thoughts and emotions.

Just as she had turned onto the main highway, it started to flurry. She should have turned back around, but it didn't seem like it was going to stick, so she didn't worry about it.

What a mistake that was. She had been out for about half an hour when she felt her car starting to act funny. She tires weren't gripping the way that they should, so she quickly pulled over and see if she could wait out the snow. But it only got worse from there. She had to get home before it got really bad.

If only she had seen that she pulled into a forming snowbank. She just kept rocking against the snow around her, unable to get up over it. She was stuck. Just great.

She quickly grabbed her phone from her purse, and without even giving it a second thought, called the only number on her speed dial.

"Hey," she heard come from the other end. She could tell immediately Emily was still upset, and rightfully so, they hadn't been the greatest to each other today.

"Hey, can you, um, come get me?" Alison asked, "I was driving and my car got stuck in the snow."

"Are you okay?" Emily asked, immediately worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just can't get out," Alison said.

"Okay, yeah. I'll be right there. Stay in the car."

They hung up the phone and Alison cranked the heat in her car. She quickly started thinking about the evenings events, and regretting every second of it. They weren't like this, her and Emily. They were so good now. But every once in a while, their pasts got the better of them and stuff came up. And it was usually stuff that they never wanted brought up.

An hour later, Alison heard a car pull up behind her. Thank God for Emily's new truck. That thing was a tank. She turned off her car and grabbed her stuff. The second she closed the door, she saw Emily get out of her truck.

"Babe," Emily called, quickly running to where Alison stood. They wrapped their arms tight around each other, "God, are you okay?"

"Yes," Alison said, pulling away slightly so she could see Emily's face, "I'm fine, babe. I just pulled over because my tires started swirving and then I couldn't get back out."

"Well, thank God you're okay," Emily said, wrapping her arms around Alison again.

"I gotta call a tow truck to come get the car," Alison said, moving to pull out her phone.

"Come on, we'll do it in the car. Let's get out of the cold," Emily said.

They both climbed in the truck and tried to defrost from the cold. An uncomfortable silence between the two of them. They both were too stubborn for their own good sometimes.

"Ali," Emily started.

"God, I'm so sorry, babe," Ali said, tears springing to her eyes.

"No, I'm sorry," Emily said, reaching for Alison's hand.

"I hate when we fight," Alison said, rubbing her thumb over the back of Emily's hand.

"Me too," Emily said, "I never should have said those things. It wasn't fair to you."

"I said horrible things too, babe. I wish I could take it all back."

"Come here," Emily said, reaching for Alison. Alison's lips immediately found Emily's. Emily moved to deepen the kiss, and tangled her hands in Alison's hair.

Alison pulled away first, but pressed her head against Emily's, her thumb gently caressing Emily's cheek.

"Let's go home."


	13. Chapter 13 - Matching Sweaters

Day 13

 _ **Matching Sweaters**_

"Girls! Hurry up! Your mom is going to be home any minute," Emily called up the stairs to her twins.

"We're coming!" Lily yelled down to Emily.

"Come here, Wayne," Emily said, bending down to pick up the grabby 2-year-old from where he was playing on the floor. She quickly helped him stand up and straightened out his clothes.

Alison had been having a particularly bad day at work. She was dealing with a bunch of attitude ridden teenagers who just wanted to end start their Christmas break. She had had a disgustingly long department meeting that really made her consider ripping out her own eyelashes. And a mountain of paperwork and papers to grade before the semesters end.

Emily knew immediately that she needed to do something to cheer Alison up, and she had just the plan. She had been waiting until Christmas morning for this particular surprise, but it was as good a time as any. She'd grabbed the boxes from the attic and dispersed them accordingly to the family, instructed the girls to go upstairs at once and get changed.

Emily quickly ran around the house and plugged in all the lights and the tree. She already had a fire lit in their living room and Christmas music playing all throughout the house, all waiting for Alison's arrival.

The twins came barreling down the stairs a few moments later, looking adorable as ever. Especially with their added Santa hats.

"Good idea girls! Why didn't I think of that?" Emily said.

"Here," Grace said, "We grabbed the rest."

"You two are the best," Emily said, putting Wayne's on.

A few seconds later, they heard the beep of a car locking.

"Come on, everyone get ready!" Emily said. Everyone getting into position in front of the fire.

"Hello?" Alison called from the front door, "Where is everyone?"

"In here, Mommy!" Lily yelled, giggling excitedly.

Alison crossed into the living room and immediately burst out into laughter.

"What's all this?" she asked, crossing over to take a look at everyone. She first spotted Emily's red Christmas sweater. In white embroidered letters it said "Santa Mama." And all three kids had matching sweaters that all said "Santa Baby" on them.

"Well," Emily said, crossing over to Alison, "we knew you weren't having the best day at work, so we wanted to surprise you. I've had these for weeks."

"This is amazing. _You_ are amazing," Alison said, wrapping her arms around Emily's waist and kissing her soundly.

"Here, mommy!" Grace said, walking over and holding up another red sweater.

"Is this one mine?" Alison asked.

"Yeah!" Lily said, "Go put it on!"

Alison opened the sweater, hers said "Santa Mommy."

"These are awesome! I'll be right back."

A few moments later, Alison came back all changed into her new sweater, and joined Emily and the kids on the floor where they were sitting by the fire.

"You really like it?" Emily asked, moving a chunk of hair from Alison's face.

"Are you kidding? I love it. And you. Thank you for always doing the most ridiculous things to make me laugh," Alison said, grabbing hold of Emily's hand and giving it a squeeze.

"I promised you I always would," Emily said, leaning in to give Alison a quick kiss.

"Don't forget your hat, mommy!" Grace said.

"How could I ever?" Alison said, quickly putting on her Santa hat, officially matching the rest of the

family.

"Come on," Emily said, reaching for her phone, "Let's take a photo!"

She quickly leaned it up against a stack of books on their coffee table and started the timer. The whole family grouped together and put on their best smiles. This quickly became one of their all time favorite photos, and a new Christmas tradition they'd have for many, many years to come.


	14. Chapter 14 - Bringing the Snow to You

Day 14

 ** _Em is in Cali for School & Ali Brings the Snow to Her_**

"Hi babe," Alison said brightly when she answered the phone. She had just gotten home from class.

"Hey," came from the other end of the phone. Alison immediately knew something wasn't right.

"What's wrong?" she asked, throwing her bag on her bed.

"I don't know. I'm just in a bad mood."

"Did something happen?"

"No, not really. I'm just kind of sad. This is the first Christmas that I'm not spending in Rosewood, and that I'm not spending with you."

Tears sprung to Alison's eyes. Emily's family was going out to see her in California this year, they had been wanting to see Pepperdine and thought that this was a good opportunity to go. But unfortunately, that meant that Emily wouldn't be coming home or spending Christmas with Ali. And it was weighing heavily on the both of them.

"I know babe. Believe me, I wish I could come with them."

And it wasn't like Ali hadn't tried. She'd been practically begging her parents for weeks, but no one was budging.

"I wish you could, too," Emily said, the slightest crack in her voice that made Alison's heart break more than it already was.

"And I'm not even going to get any snow. What's Christmas without any snow?"

Snow was on Emily's top 5 favorite things of ever.

"I'm so sorry. If only there was something I could do."

"Bring the snow to me?" Emily asked, her voice sarcastic.

"You know I would if I could."

"I know, baby. It's okay, I'll be fine. And I'll see you for the New Year, at least we have that to look forward too."

"Exactly," Alison said, "just keep counting down. I'll be there before you know it."

"Can't wait," Emily said.

"Me either."

They talked for a few more moments but Emily had to get ready for swim practice.

"Okay," Alison said, "Call me after practice if you want."

"I will. I love you," Emily said.

"I love you too."

"I miss you," she said softly.

"I miss you," Alison said, her heart aching.

They hung up and Alison felt horrible. She knew Emily was hurting, she was hurting too. She had to do something. She had to.

She quickly grabbed her laptop and started researching. This was where her mom found her 3 hours later.

"Ali, it's time for dinner," Jessica said.

"Not hungry," Alison said, typing away at her laptop.

"What are you doing?" Jessica said, coming to sit next to her. She peeked at what Alison was looking at.

"Ali," her mom said.

"Mom, I know. But I have to do something. She's so upset and it's killing me that I'm not there and that we're not gonna see each other. So what if I go this week and come back Monday? I don't have any finals for the rest of the week and I'll still be home for Christmas. But at least we'll get to see each other. Please, mom," Ali said, hoping that her mom would finally understand.

Jessica was silent for a moment. Ali knew that she was thinking. She took a deep breath before speaking.

"Show me what you've got in mind."

Ali smiled and moved closer to her mom, clicking through tabs and explaining her ideas.

Less than 12 hours later, Alison's plan was in motion and she was on a plane to California. The butterflies in her stomach had turned into pterodactyls over the course of the flight. Somewhere between a mix of being over the moon about seeing Emily and terrified that her plan wasn't going to work out.

Emily had no idea she was coming, which made her plan that much better. Emily's room mate, Lily, was waiting at the terminal to pick up Alison and help set the plan further in motion.

"She has no idea I'm here right?" Alison asked.

"Not a clue. She's in class right now. I told her I was running errands all day so I wouldn't really be home," Lily said.

"Okay, perfect. And she's in class until 4. So we've got about 3 hours."

"Let's get going then."

2 and a half hours later Alison and Lily were working fiercely away to set the apartment up. It was almost ready. Good thing too because Emily was going to be home any minute.

"Okay, I'm out," Lily said, grabbing her keys and her purse, "Have fun."

"Thank you so much," Ali said, "for everything. I really appreciate it."

"My pleasure. I hate seeing her upset and I know that this is exactly what she needs."

Ali sat down on the living room floor, the sea of pillows and blankets all around her and waited patiently. A few moments later she heard keys in the door. Emily's face lit up immediately when she saw what was in front of her.

"Ali?" she asked, almost as if she was in a dream. She couldn't believe the sight in front of her.

"Did you miss me?" Ali asked, giggling slightly.

"What- what is all of this? What are you doing here?" Emily looked at the sea of white all around her, the mountains of fake snow on the ground and cut out snowflakes hung from the ceiling and windows.

"You were upset. You asked me to bring the snow to you. This was the best I could do on short notice."


	15. Chapter 15 - Christmas Tradition

Day 15

 _ **Christmas Tradition**_

It had not been a good day. It seemed as though anything and everything that could go wrong for the young couple, was. They had burnt half of the cookies. The majority of the bulbs on their strands of lights were out. And they had seemingly lost an entire box of tree ornaments.

It wasn't going well for them.

"That's it," came from Alison as she stormed into the living room, "I am so done with today."

"What happened now?" Emily asked, she was sat crisscross on the living room floor in a tangle of fairy lights.

"Jason just texted me. He can't find my mom's apple pie recipe," Alison said, her voice sounding small and upset.

Emily immediately stilled her movements and looked at Alison, her heart breaking a little at the distraught look she found.

"Jeez, babe," she said, untangling herself from the mountain of lights and moving to sit next to her girlfriend on the couch, "I'm so sorry."

"Why is everything going so terribly wrong?" Alison asked, leaning her head on Emily's shoulder.

Emily took a deep breath, "That is a very good question."

"This is our first Christmas together, and everything should be perfect."

"I know," Emily said. They were exhausted. They had been working for hours and hours to get the house ready and cook. They both needed this day to end.

"Hey," Emily said, waiting for Alison to meet her eyes, "Let's go for a drive!"

"Yeah?" Alison asked.

"Yeah! Clear our minds, get out of this house. Like old times."

"Yeah," Alison said, looking immediately happier, "let's go."

They both bundled up and headed out into the freezing cold. Emily quickly started their car and pulled out of their driveway. Alison was on DJ duty, so she put on their Christmas playlist.

Within 10 minutes, they were both feeling better, the stress melting away to the sounds of Bing Crosby's It's Beginning To Look Like Christmas.

"I'm sorry that nothing is working out," Emily said, giving Alison's hand a squeeze.

"I'm sorry too, babe. I just want everything to be perfect for us. For you."

"Why for me?"

"Because," Alison said, rubbing her thumb over the back of Emily's hand, "It's your favorite time of year. And it's your first with me. And I just want it all to be as happy and magical as it should be. I want this to be one you remember forever."

"Babe," Emily said, "look at me."

Alison's eyes flashed up to meet Emily's.

"I have you now. Every single day is one to remember. We could spend Christmas in a box and it would already be my favorite because I'm spending it with you. You are all I need for Christmas, and every day in between."

There were tears in Alison's eyes. How could this woman possibly be real?

"I love you so much. There is no one I would rather want to spend my days with," Emily said, leaning over to capture Alison's lips in hers.

"I love you," Alison said, "always have, always will."

Emily squeezed Alison's hand again, and continued driving. They had no idea where the hell they were, but it didn't matter. They were together and that's all they cared about.

"Wait," Alison said a few moments later, "what's that?"

She was pointing to a spot a few streets over, there was an abundance of lights lighting up the sky. And the faint hum of music coming from the same direction.

"I don't know," Emily said, "but let's go check it out."

She steered the car towards that direction and within moments, their vision was filled with houses and lawns decorated to the nines with lights, blow up figures, mechanical statues and more. It was like they had walked out of Rosewood and into the North Pole.

They were transformed, almost like they were kids again. Pointing and ooh-ing and ahh-ing at everything in every direction.

"This is insane," Emily said, in awe of all that was around her.

"Oh my, god. Babe. Look at that giant Frosty statue!"

There were streets and streets and streets decorated like this. It seemed never ending, not that either of them was complaining. They were loving every single second of it.

They had spent almost two hours looking at the houses, trying to take in every single detail. When they had finally been able to pull themselves away, they felt like entirely new people.

"That was amazing," Alison said, "I'm so glad that we found that."

"Me too," Emily said, excitedly.

"Hey," Alison said, waiting for Emily to look at her, "I have an idea."

"What's that?"

"Let's make this a tradition. Every year, especially when we're the most stressed, we come out on a long drive and find all the decorated houses we can."

"That sounds amazing," Emily said, her face lighting up like, well, a Christmas tree.

Alison leaned over and pressed a kiss to Emily's cheek.

"You and Christmas decorations," Emily said, "my two favorite things in the world. What could be better than that?"


	16. Chapter 16 - Christmas Coffee

Day 16

 _ **Christmas Coffee**_

Christmas time meant a lot of things for the brunette: cold weather, hot chocolate, decorations around the whole town, family, friends, and overall happiness. Needless to say, it was Emily's all time favorite time of the year, and she always counted down the days until she could put her tree and lights up.

But one thing that Christmas time did bring that didn't excite Emily so much was extra hours at the coffee house. There could be worse things, of course, that she could be dealing with. But she just wanted to be all Christmas all the time during December, and that was quite hard to achieve when you were spending over 40 hours making coffees and teas.

She couldn't complain though, she loved her job, her coworkers and her staple customers that she saw pretty much every day. They made it all worth it. But some days it was hard to keep reminding yourself of all that. Especially when it was inventory day during Christmas.

The day was a day from Hell like no other. They had screwed up inventory at least 5 times, drinks were getting out late to people and the place was packed. An absolute Christmas rush. Emily never worked the register much, but she always tried to fill in when needed.

"Hi," she said to the next customer, finishing writing an order on a cup, "What can I get for you?"

She moved the cup to the line and finally glanced up at the customer. The vision in front of her was unreal and her breath caught in her throat at the sight of the stunning, tall, blonde in front of her. She felt her mouth go dry and all knowledge of words go right out of her head.

"Hi," the blonde said brightly, "Can I please get two grande chestnut praline lattes?"

"Of course you can," Emily said, flashing her brightest smile. Two lattes. "That'll be $7 please."

She took the money from the blonde, not missing the giant rock on her left ring finger. Of course.

"Can I get a name please?"

"Alison."

"Okay, you're all set."

"Thank you, love," Alison said, and Emily felt like she was going to faint. This girl was perfect in every sense of the word. But clearly taken. Unfortunately, that was always Emily's luck.

Day after day, a familiar blonde started coming around. Every day, at around the same time, always ordering two chestnut praline lattes. And of course, Emily was always the one to be taking the order.

About two weeks of Alison coming in, Emily had her order working the second she'd spot the blonde from across the parking lot.

"Hi," Alison said brightly when she spotted Emily.

"Hello," Emily said, "Your lattes are working as we speak."

"Ugh," Alison said, handing Emily her money, "You are a dream."

"I try," Emily said, throwing a wink over her shoulder at the blonde, her heart skipping a beat when she peeked at Alison's flushed cheeks.

And this is how it went with them. Every day, Alison came in, her lattes waiting, a quick little banter between her and Emily and a promise of seeing her the next day.

Until one day, Alison didn't come in. Emily couldn't help but be a little disappointed, finding that seeing Alison everyday quickly became something she looked forward to during her shifts. She hoped everything was okay.

The next day came crashing in like it does every year, Christmas Eve. It was busier than ever and Emily wished more than anything that she had at least 4 more hands to make up the work that needed to be done. She was working the register again, trying her best to speed through the incoming orders.

"What can I get you?" she asked, not looking up from the register.

"Hi," she heard someone say, their voice thick with tears and the sound of sniffles, "Can I get a chestnut praline latte?"

"Anything else?" Emily asked, grabbing a cup. Still not having looked up.

"No, that's it," the voice said.

"Okay, that'll be $3.50." She looked up to take the money from the customer, and nothing could have prepared her for the completely distraught blonde that was standing in front of her. Alison said nothing, just handed Emily her money and moved down the line. Emily tried to keep an eye on her, trying to decide whether or not it was creepy to ask if she was okay. When Alison had grabbed her drink and moved to a table near the back, Emily knew she had to do something.

"I'm taking my break," Emily said to one of her coworkers, and quickly took off her apron. She grabbed a few desserts from the kitchen and threw them in the microwave oven to warm them up. When they were done, she made her way to the back of the store and carefully slid them on the table.

Alison looked up at Emily, confusion written all over her red and puffy face. Emily could tell by the dark circles and red eyes that she must have been crying for hours on end, and her heart broke a little because of it. She said nothing and sat down, grabbing one of the various desserts and digging in.

Alison reached over and grabbed Emily's hand, rubbing her thumb over the back of her hand. It was only then that Emily had realized something, no rings. It all made sense now.

"You shouldn't have to spend Christmas alone," Emily said.

Alison shot Emily a smile, a real smile. They started talking. And the rest was history.


	17. Chapter 17 - Stuck at the Airport

Day 17

you might be seeing this again...

 _ **Stuck at the Airport on Christmas Eve**_

The snowstorm came in barreling in like a bat out of hell. All the news stations said it was only going to be flurries, an inch at most. But now here she was, stuck at the airport on Christmas Eve. All incoming and outgoing flights were being postponed until further notice. And the previous 1 inch had turned into a 6 inch blizzard, you couldn't even see your hand right in front of your face.

She was supposed to be flying home for Christmas. She had some last minute papers to grade and this was the only flight out left for her to take and her family was expecting her. But now with this damn blizzard, she was stuck in the airport overnight with no prospects of getting to her family's house anytime soon. She was never one for Christmas, but this year she had really wanted to try, and now even that was up in flames.

The blonde tried to pass the time, she played games on her phone until it died, read until her eyes started going cross-eyed and even tried more than once to work on the book idea that had been circling her brain for months. But nothing was helping to get through the night.

Everyone around her was asleep, so it wasn't even like she could talk to someone. She decided to go for a bit of a walk, maybe that would help clear her mind and make the night go a little bit faster. She walked through as many terminals and gates that she could get through. Past all of the closed stores and restaurants. She was bored out of her skull.

"God, I'd kill for a cup of coffee right now," she heard come from behind her. She turned around to see a thin, goddess looking, tanned brunette sat at a nearby table. She looked just as shocked that she spoke out loud as the blonde was to hear it.

"Did I say that out loud?" The brunette asked, looking slightly mortified.

The blonde laughed, "You did."

"I've been in this airport too long. I've officially started going crazy."

"Yeah, cabin fever can do that to you," the blonde said, unable to peel her eyes off of the beauty looking back at her.

"I'm Emily, by the way," the brunette said, standing up and crossing over to the blonde.

"I'm Alison," the blonde said, smiling sweetly.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Alison. Though I wish it was under better circumstances," Emily laughed.

"Ugh," Alison groaned, "I can't believe we're gonna be stuck here all night. Where are you off too?"

"Pennsylvania. Visiting some family for the holidays."

"What a coincidence. Me too," Alison said. She was never one to believe in fate, but she certainly wouldn't complain about spending the next however many hours with someone who looked like that.

"No way," Emily said, "Well, then would you like to keep me company? I really think I might start going insane and start eating my hair or something."

Alison laughed wholeheartedly, "I'd love to. Would you like to join me on the rest of my walk?"

"Absolutely," Emily said. And the two started walking towards nowhere. A nice, comfortable silence between the two of them.

"So," Emily started, "tell me something about yourself. Seeing as we're gonna be spending the whole night together and you haven't even taken me out to dinner."

Alison laughed again. This girl could make her laugh, like really laugh. That wasn't easy, but yet here Alison was, laughing like an idiot.

"What do you want to know?" She asked.

"I don't know," Emily said, "Anything. Everything."

"20 questions?" She asked, feeling her heart beat faster and faster with every passing second.

"Okay. Any siblings?"

"Yes. An older brother, Jason," Alison stated, "What's your favorite color?"

"Blue. Like the ocean. Favorite book?"

"Lolita. Read it in high school and it's been my favorite ever since. I love it. Favorite holiday?" Alison asked.

"This one," Emily stated, looking at the floor, her face immediately falling.

"Oh, my God," Alison said, putting her hand on Emily's arm, "I'm so sorry. You're stuck here all night."

"It's okay. It's not your fault. And this isn't so bad," Emily said, smiling at Alison.

"No, this isn't bad at all," Alison said, blushing slightly. Now she was blushing! What was happening to her?

…to be continued


	18. Chapter 18 - Snowman Building

Day 18

 _ **Snowman Building**_

It was the first big snowfall of the year. The schools were got out early, the shops were closed and the town was an absolute winter wonderland. Grace and Lily were glad to be out of preschool early and Emily and Alison were thrilled to be spending the day with their girls.

They had already done all of the snow day essential activities: baking cookies, hot chocolate with extra marshmallows, and movie marathons with a blanket and pillow fort in the living room. It was proving to be one of the best days ever, just everyone getting to be together.

"What do you girls want to do now?" Emily asked as their third movie was ending.

"Dunno," Grace and Lily said in unison, the both of them pulling the covers tighter around them.

"Well," Alison started, tucking strands of hair behind Grace's ears, "how about two very sleepy girls take a nap and then we'll decide what to do next when they wake up."

"I think that is a very good idea," Emily said, getting up and tucking the girls in on the couch.

They fell asleep without protest and Emily and Alison made themselves busy. Enjoying the quiet and some time alone.

"Hey," Emily said in-between kisses, "It stopped snowing."

"Finally," Alison said, moving a chunk of hair from Emily's face.

"I know," Emily said, "there must be at least 5 inches out there."

Alison got a look on her face, and Emily immediately knew that it meant the wheels were turning.

"I have an idea," she said, a smile creeping up her face.

"That's never a reassuring statement."

"Shut up," Alison said, grabbing hold of Emily's hand, "Come with me."

Twenty minutes later, the two women crept back into the living room, pausing to look at the sweet faces of their two girls fast asleep. They almost didn't have the heart to wake them, but they knew that this would be so worth it.

"Girls," Emily said, bending down and rubbing Lily's back as Alison gently shook Grace's shoulder, "it's time to wake up."

"5 more minutes, mama," Lily pleaded.

"Please," Grace said.

"Come on," Alison said, pressing kisses to their cheeks, "we have fun things planned."

It was then that two sets of eyes shot open, meeting those of their moms. The two women could see the intrigue behind the young eyes.

"Like what," Grace said, her voice curious.

"Well," Emily said, "You have to wake up and find out."

The two 5-year-olds quickly shot up off the couch and followed their moms. Getting all bundled up in their boots, snow pants, coats, hats, scarves, and gloves.

The family of four made their way into the cold air of the snowy outside. The town looked like something out of a storybook. Snow covered every square inch of every house, street, tree branch, and everything in-between. Emily quickly grabbed the two girls and flung them over her shoulders, running around the yard and spinning. The sound of laughter echoing through the street.

"Come here babies," Alison said, sitting down on their snow-covered lawn.

"What are you doing mommy?" Lily asked.

"I'm gonna make a snowman. I want you girls to help me!"

"How do you make a snowman?" Grace asked.

"I'll show you! Grab some snow and come sit down."

The girls did as they were told and before they knew it, a full form was built. Sticks for arms, carrots for a nose and all.

"Now what?" Lily asked, turning her head to look at the snowman sideways.

"Something's missing," Grace said, joining in her sister's position.

"Now," Emily said, bending down to the girl's level, "we dress him!"

Alison grabbed the box from the porch and handed out gloves, a hat, and a scarf for their creation.

He was quickly dressed and the family of four stepped back to admire their hard work. Although their faces were frozen and hands were numb, it was all worth it.

"What do you think girls?" Emily asked.

"He needs a name!" The twins said in unison.

"I agree," Alison said.

They made their way inside to defrost, the sounds of Grace and Lily fighting over names and a promise of making snowmen for every snowday to come.


	19. Chapter 19 - Tree Decorating

Day 19

 _ **Tree Decorating**_

"Babe," Alison called from their attic stairs.

"Yeah?" she heard Emily yell from downstairs.

"Can you come up here and help me with these boxes?"

Alison heard the sound of footsteps up behind her a few seconds later.

"Whoa," Emily said when she stumbled upon the mountain of boxes in their upstairs hallway.

"Grab a box," Alison said, 3 boxes in her arms, making her way down the stairs.

"What is all this stuff?" Emily asked.

"Mostly ornaments."

"These are all ornaments?" Emily felt like she had just teleported to the North Pole.

"Yeah," Alison said, bending down to put down the boxes and start unpacking it all.

"And we're gonna use all of these?" Emily asked, her face lit up at all the red and green shining back at her.

"If you want to," Alison said, moving to open another box.

"This is, like, the best day ever!" Emily exclaimed, a giddy smile on her face.

Alison couldn't help but giggle at Emily. She loved more than anything to make Emily happy, and especially when it came to Christmas time.

"Well, come on! We have a huge tree to decorate."

They had picked it out and put it up last night. Emily was absolutely adorable when it came to this stuff. She had practically jumped out of the car while it was still moving and was running around the entire nursery. She had found the tree before Alison had even put the car in park. Seeing Emily so happy and excited made Alison feel all warm and fuzzy inside. However cheesy that may sound, it was the truth.

Alison was never one for Christmas, but with Emily, everything changed. Emily was her light, in every situation. She felt like she was living a new life.

They had already put the lights on that morning, so now all the gigantic tree needed was ornaments.

"Ali, these are gorgeous," Emily said.

"Yeah, my mom had good taste. I'm glad she saved all this stuff."

"Me too!"

One by one they started decorating the tree, strategizing where things would look best and moving around the ornaments when the other wasn't looking.

"Are there anymore?" Emily asked, running her fingers over an ornament with Ali's baby picture on it.

"Actually, yeah. There's one more box," Ali said, moving to their bedroom. She came back with an older box, it had definitely been used and abused. It had been loved.

Emily hadn't spotted the box yet, she was too busy being enamored by all the fancy ornaments. Emily hung up the ornament that was in her hands and moved over to start on the box that Ali had just brought out. But she paused her motions the second she spotted it.

"Ali," was all she could say.

"I ran over to your mom's yesterday during our lunch break and picked these up."

The box was a box of Emily's childhood ornaments. Ones that they put on the tree every single year without fail.

"You didn't have to do that," Emily said, batting the tears from her eyes.

"Of course I did. This is our first Christmas together. The first of many. And I wanted all of this to be a reflection of the both of us. That tree is gonna be our lives coming together. Forever. And I know how much you love Christmas and I knew that it would mean a lot to you for you to have these on our tree."

The way Emily was looking at Alison right now was enough to make someone's heart stop. Emily had no idea how she got so lucky.

"There aren't even enough words to describe how much I love you," Emily said, leaning over to press a kiss to Alison's lips.

"I wanted to make this special for you. For us."

"And for every Christmas to come."

"I promise you that," Alison said, moving to start pulling out ornaments.


	20. Chapter 20 - Eggnog

Day 20

 _ **Eggnog**_

Alison loved eggnog. Like _loved_ it. She waited all year long until it hit the shelves and she shamelessly bought all the cartons she could get her hands on. She had even started dabbling with making her own but she could never find a recipe that was just right.

Personally, she had liked her eggnog with rum. Something about the rich taste and the way it made her feel all warm inside was what Christmas was all about.

It had become a staple in their house, making sure that throughout the month of December, it was always stocked in the fridge. Her and Emily had been known to share a glass or two at the end of long days and on the weekends. It was their thing, and a practice that they were both very fond of.

xXx

They were at Hanna and Caleb's annual Christmas party. All the couples got together, reconnected, reminisced, had a few drinks and exchanged presents. It was something they all had looked forward to every year.

The majority of their activities had already been crossed off the to-do list, so now it was just everyone relaxing around a fire and enjoying a nice couple of drinks.

Alison was feeling _good_. She really, _really_ , loved eggnog. She didn't know what number glass she was on, she honestly had stopped counting after 3. All she knew was that she was around everyone she loved, she was having a great time, and she was feeling amazing.

"Hey you," Emily said, finding Alison on the couch.

Alison gasped when she spotted Emily. "Hi!" she said, very dramatically.

Emily knew immediately that her decision to not drink tonight had been the right one.

"How are you feeling?" Emily said, putting her arm around Alison's shoulders.

"Amazing," Alison said, smiling sweetly.

"Good," Emily laughed, pressing a kiss to Alison's forehead.

"Hey," Alison said, turning to look at Emily's face.

"Hmm?"

"Have I ever told you that you're really, _really_ pretty?" Alison asked, her words slurring ever so slightly.

"I think you've mentioned it before," Emily said, smiling brightly. Alison really was adorable when she was drunk.

"Okay good," Alison said, her head flopping down against Emily's shoulder.

They stayed like this for a few moments, their arms wrapped around each other, everyone they love around. It was bliss.

Alison moved her head, staring at Emily again. Her face very serious.

"Can I tell you a secret?" she asked, her voice steady and serious.

"Of course," Emily said, reaching to move a chunk of hair from Alison's face.

"I have a crush on you," Alison said, looking at Emily admiringly.

Emily smiled sweetly. There really no words to describe how much she loved this woman.

"Well, I guess it's lucky for you that you get to go home with me," Emily said.

"Really?" Alison asked, "That's like the best thing to ever happen to me."

Emily laughed again and moved to pull Alison to her feet. They said their goodbyes and walked out to their car. It was past someone's bedtime.

Alison slept pretty much the whole ride home, she had finally surrendered to the alcohol. Emily was able to get her inside and into bed without a problem, gently tucking her in and making sure she was comfortable. A few moments later, the brunette climbed in bed beside the blonde, and Alison immediately turned into Emily's side, wrapping her arms around Emily's middle.

"I get to marry you one day," she heard Alison say softly, "that's so cool."

Emily smiled again, and kissed Alison's cheek. Sleep took her a few moments later.

The morning came before either of them were ready. Emily felt Alison stir against her and opened her eyes to see sweet, blue eyes looking back up at her.

"Did I tell you last night that I had a crush on you?" she asked.

Emily laughed loudly.

"And that I'm really, _really_ pretty," Emily said, trying her best to reenact Alison's drunken tone from the night before.

"Ugh, I'm never drinking again," Alison said, burrowing her face into Emily's neck.

"We both know you'll never say no to a glass of eggnog," Emily said, pulling the covers tighter around the both of them.


	21. Chapter 21 - Snow Walk

Day 21

i'm sorry i've been mia these past couple of days, y'all. ya girl has been sick af. but i promise you will have the oneshots for the days i missed!

 _ **Snow Walk**_

It was cold, freezing actually. The ground crunched under your feet when you walked. Your hair was slightly frozen at the tips. Your fingertips were numb and your face was a tad frostbitten. This only meant one thing: _snow._

You could just smell it in the air, all around you. It was coming, and soon.

Emily couldn't wait. The only thing she loved almost as much as Christmas, was snow. When it snowed, everyone just seemed happier. The town was a Winter Wonderland. And the sounds of children laughing and playing could be heard on every street corner. It was just magical.

Every year since she was a kid, she always takes a late night walk in the first snowfall of the season. It was something her dad has turned her on to, and now it was something she looked forward to every single year. These past few years she'd been doing them by herself, but she loved them just the same. Just enjoying some peace and quiet with herself during a soft snowfall was just what the doctor always ordered.

xXx

"I heard it's supposed to snow tonight," Hanna had said during lunch.

"Really?" Emily asked, her face lighting up, "Where did you hear that?"

"It was all over the radio this morning when I was driving to school," Aria said around a bite of her salad.

"Does this mean the annual snow walk is underway?" Alison asked, looking at Emily with curiosity. And a little bit of flirt behind her eyes.

"It does. Every year without fail."

"Well don't come crying to me when you can't feel your fingertips," Alison said, throwing a wink over her shoulder to let Emily know she was kidding.

A few hours later, the first flurries started to fall. Emily ran to the window like a small child and watched it for a while, seeing it cover the cars and trees. She loved this.

At 10pm, she bundled up and headed out her front door. She took a deep breath and let the cold, snowy air fill her lungs. She took her first step, feeling the snow crunch under her feet, and started the route she took every year.

There was nothing like Rosewood in the snow. It was like the entire town, and everyone in it, was transformed.

She always walked past her friend's houses, and they've known through years of experience to leave extra supplies for Emily on their doorsteps should she need it. Handwarmers from Spencer, a mug of hot cocoa from Ali, an extra hat from Hanna, and an extra set of gloves from Aria. She made her rounds and collected her supplies.

Just as she was turning into the main part of the town, she spotted an all too familiar figure walking around.

She couldn't help the smile that pulled at her lips at the sight of the blonde in front of her.

"Hey, you," Emily said, "What are you doing out here?"

Alison turned around and blue eyes met brown. She smiled sweetly at the sight of Emily.

"Thought I'd take a page from your book this year. Have my very own snow walk."

Emily smiled again, taking in the sight of Ali's own mug of hot cocoa.

"In that case," Emily said, extending her hand out to Alison, "would you like to join me on the rest of mine?"

"I couldn't," Alison said, smiling again, "This is your thing."

"Come on," Emily said, "I want you to."

Alison looked into Emily's eyes and grabbed the outstretched hand. They linked arms and continued their walk.

They walked in silence for a few moments, just enjoying the peace and quiet and each other's company.

"I have a confession to make," Alison spoke up a few moments later.

"What's that?" Emily said, taking a sip from her mug.

"There's a reason that I decided to take my own snow walk this year. And it's not just because I wanted to see the town."

"Then what's the reason?" Emily asked.

"I was hoping that I'd run into you," Alison said sheepishly, her eyes staring at the ground.

Emily stopped walking, and waited for Alison's eyes to meet hers.

"Why would you want to just run into me?" she asked.

"I'm always hoping that I'll just run into you," Alison said, averting her eyes again, "At the store. Around town. All day in school. It's the best part of my day whenever I get to see you."

Emily didn't say anything, her head was spinning. She had to be dreaming.

"And I know that this is your thing, but it's something that makes you so incredibly happy every single year. And I wanted to see it first hand. I hope you're not mad, I just-I wanted to be with you."

"Ali," Emily started, but she didn't have words. Was Ali really, finally, saying all of this to her?

Ali reached up and tucked a chunk of hair behind Emily's ear, running her fingertips gently over Emily's cheek. Emily couldn't help but lean into the touch. She quickly turned and pressed a kiss to Alison's fingertips.

Alison's breath caught in her throat at the action. Emily moved to wrap her arms around Alison's waist, their foreheads coming together. They stood like this for a moment, just in each other's space. Where they always belonged.

"Can I kiss you?" Emily asked, shyly.

"I thought you'd never ask," Alison said.

Emily reached a hand up to cup Alison's cheek, and carefully pulled Alison's face to hers. Their lips met in a gentle touch, stealing the air from both of their lungs.

Emily pulled away first, finding Alison's eyes. They stared into each other's for a moment before Alison leaned in again, moving to deepen the kiss.

The air grew colder around them. They finally pulled away after what had seemed like hours, but were just sheer moments. Alison's gloved hand found Emily's. They continued on their walk, and not even the cold air could touch the warmth in their hearts.


	22. Chapter 22 - Take My Jacket

Day 22

 _ **It's cold and Emily gives Ali her jacket.**_

The winter only meant one thing in Rosewood, sports meets. And Alison being the new girl, tried to attend everything she could. Her favorite being swimming, and it had _absolutely_ nothing to do with a certain brunette on the team.

She sat in the sweaty pool auditorium of their high school and watched attentively as the athletes swam back and forth. She was always enamored by how fast they swam. Like they were fish.

The meet ended quickly, and of course her school took home the trophy. She waited around like she always did at the end of meets and waited until a certain brunette came out of the locker room.

"Hey," she said the second her blue eyes met brown.

"Hey!" the brunette exclaimed.

"Ready to go?" Alison asked. They always walked home together.

"Yeah!" Emily said, moving to open the door for the blonde.

They walked out into the brisk air and started their walk home. This quickly became an everyday occurance. The first day of school had been a hard one for Alison. Starting a new school and not knowing anyone is like a recipe for disaster. But she quickly found a certain brunette in second period who had been extremely nice and stuck by Alison's side. And the rest is history.

"Good job today, Em. You did amazing, as always!" Alison said.

"Thank you," Emily blushed, "and thanks for watching me."

"Promised you I always would," Alison said. She immediately regretted not wearing a heavier jacket today. The cold was cutting through her clothes like knives and she knew her teeth would start chattering any second.

Emily must have noticed the slight shiver because she paused on the sidewalk.

"Here," she said, taking off her varsity jacket and holding it out for Alison to put on.

"I can't take that! What are you gonna wear?"

"I'm fine!" Emily said, holding it out again, "The cold doesn't bother me."

"Thank you," Alison said shyly.

"You're very welcome," Emily said, bumping Alison's shoulder with her own.

"Can I ask you a question?" Alison asked.

"Sure."

"Why are you so nice to me? Since the first day of school you've been by my side."

"Maybe it's because I think you're pretty," Emily said, chuckling slightly.

"What?"

"Well, that's not the only reason. I don't know ever since I first saw you in second period, I just wanted to be your friend, I guess. That sounds super lame but I did. I just felt like we would get along and I wanted to be in your life. That sounds really dumb but I don't really know how to put it into words."

Alison didn't say anything for a few seconds.

"You think I'm pretty?" she asked, a smile pulling at the edges of her mouth.

Emily stopped walking, and reached for Alison's hand, "I think you're beautiful."

Alison smiled and gently leaned up, pressing her lips softly to Emily's mouth.

"The feeling is mutual," she said when she pulled away.

Emily smiled and reached for Alison again.

"I guess there's no reason for you to give me back that jacket then," Emily said, still holding Alison's hand and walking the rest of the way to their houses.


	23. Chapter 23 - Spending Christmas Apart

Day 23

 _ **Spending Christmas Away From Each Other**_

Spending Christmas alone is never easy. But when you have someone to spend it with, and that person isn't with you, well, that makes it a million times harder. Not being with the person you love on Christmas was a horrible feeling, one that Emily and Alison wouldn't wish on anyone.

It was days like this that being in a long distance relationship proved its hardships. Emily was in California, Alison in Rosewood. They only saw each other a handful of times a year at the most, but Christmas was always the time they waited for. When it was just days and days of just them. It wasn't an overnight or weekend tease that they got every once in a while. It was real time, devoted to just each other.

But this year, that wasn't happening. All their plans had changed. Emily couldn't get any flights out until Christmas Eve back to Rosewood. And Alison's family had sprung on her rather last minute that they would be spending the holidays down south with her family. They were leaving on the 23rd. Meaning the two lovebirds wouldn't see each other until after Christmas.

And it was something that was weighing heavily on the both of them.

Alison was home, lounging in bed one day when she heard her phone start ringing. She knew immediately who it was and she answered it with a smile.

"Hey, you," she said to her girlfriend.

"Hi," Emily said. You could just hear the smile in her voice.

"What are you up to?" Alison asked, playing with the tassels on her blanket.

"Actually, I'm packing," Emily said, her mood dropping immediately.

"I just finished doing that," Alison said.

"I can't believe we're not going to see each other at all until New Years," Emily said, throwing things in a suitcase.

"I hate it," Alison said, a slight crack in her voice.

"Me too," Emily said, "It's not fair."

"I wish there was something we could do," Alison said, knowing very well that they explored every option they could think of ten times over. Nothing would work.

"I know. But that's why we have to make the time we have together when you get back that much more amazing. And that reminds me, get out the list."

"Okay, hold on," Alison said, getting up and crossing over to her desk. Her and Emily had come up with a sort of Bucket List. They planned every day to the T of their remaining time when Alison got back. They were going to make the most of the time they had together if it killed them.

"I'm ready," Alison said, looking over their itinerary.

"There's a Christmas village up in the city that's staying open until January 10th. I just saw it online this morning."

"That sounds cute," Alison said, swiftly writing it down on their list.

"And we're doing presents?" Emily asked.

"On the 31st. The second I get back right before we go to Spencer's for her New Years party."

"Perfect. See, we're gonna have an amazing time together. I promise you."

"We always do," Alison said, smiling slightly.

"I love you," Emily said.

"I love you."

"So New Years. Just 10 days. We can do that."

"We've done worse," Alison said, a chuckle escaping her.

"New Years," Emily repeated.

"New Years," Alison promised.


	24. Chapter 24 - Family First Christmas

Day 24

 _ **Family First Christmas**_

They had just fallen asleep. Between two screaming almost one-year-olds, and the last minute touches on the house to get it all ready, the two women were up literally all night. They had somehow finally managed to stumble into bed around 5am, but their blissful sleep didn't last long when their twins woke up at 7 every morning.

"Ugh," Emily said, groaning into her pillow, "like freaking clockwork."

"God," Alison said, turning over and flinging her arms around Emily, "can't they just sleep till 8am? One day? Is that really too much to ask?"

"Apparently," Emily said, pressing a kiss to Alison's hand and detaching herself from her warm covers.

Alison listen for the soft sound of Emily's voice, talking gently to their twins. It was something she looked forward to every morning.

Within moments, she heard footsteps making their way back towards their bedroom. And no matter how mad she was at the lack of sleep, it all melted away whenever she saw the sight of the two gummy little girls smiling back at her.

"Hi, girls," Alison said, her arms outstretched.

"Say 'hi mommy,'" Emily said, handing Alison Lily.

They all sat in bed for about an hour, enjoying in their morning cuddles like they did every morning, before heading downstairs to start their day.

"Hey," Emily spoke up after a minute, as if something had just dawned on her.

"Hmmm?"

"Merry Christmas," she said, her face breaking out into a huge smile.

"Merry Christmas, babe," Alison said, smiling sweetly and leaning over to press a soft kiss to Emily's lips.

"And Merry Christmas, girls!" Emily said, pressing a kiss to each of their cheeks, relishing in the unison giggling.

"I can't believe it's already their first Christmas," Alison said, looking somber for a moment.

"Oh no. Sentiments later. Come on, get up," Emily said, getting to her feet and reaching for Alison's hand, "We have a holiday to go celebrate."

Nothing would have prepared Alison for the vision set in front of her when she had walked down the stairs that morning. The entire house had been transformed. There were decorations in every nook and cranny of the house, lights hung from every corner, and a mountain of presents under their enormous Christmas tree.

"Babe," Alison said in utter awe, "How? When? What did you do?"

Emily let out a chuckle, and made a silent note to pat herself on the back later.

"When you fell asleep last night. Or this morning, I should really say. I snuck back down here and put all of this together. Do you like it?" Emily asked, the slightest bit of nerves in her voice.

"Are you kidding?" Alison asked, bending down to put the twins in their playpen, "This is amazing. All of this."

Emily smiled and watched as Alison took in everything around her. Job well done.

"Don't you think you went a little overboard with the presents though?" Alison asked with a laugh, referring to the monstrosity of wrapped packages in front of her, "They're not even one."

"I know," Emily said, "I think I got a little carried away. But I just got so excited. I mean it's their first Christmas, that only happens once. And Christmas's for me were always so magical, I want it to be the same for them. And for you."

"For me?" Alison asked, crossing over to where Emily was standing and wrapping her arms around Emily's waist.

"For you. I want every day to be magical for you. I finally am in this place with you. Where I am living this utter dream of having you by my side every minute of every day. Something that I never thought would happen in my wildest dreams. And now we have two amazing kids together, and this is all I could have ever wanted. So it is my duty to make every single day magical for my girls."

Alison had tears in her eyes. There were no words for her to ever be able to describe fully how much she loved this woman.

"You are everything I could ever want for Christmas. And every day in between."

Emily smiled shyly, like she always did whenever Alison said things like this.

"And we are the three luckiest girls on the planet. Every minute I get to spend with you is already the best moment of my life. Although I wish that we could have been in this place with each other earlier, _you_ are worth every minute of the wait."

"Merry Christmas, Ali," Emily said.

"Merry Christmas, Em."

They kissed each other sweetly before each grabbing a kid and diving into their mountain of presents, and their first Christmas together as a family.


	25. Chapter 25 - Our First Christmas

Day 25

 ** _First Christmas Together_**

The house was quiet. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care. The tree was lit and the house warm and toasty from the hours of baking cookies.

The brunette was putting the finishing touches on the house as a certain blonde was fast asleep in their bed. Emily worked swiftly practically all night to make sure every single detail was perfect. She had definitely outdone herself this year, and she made a mental note to pat herself on the back later for it.

It had just turned nine o'clock. She'd let her girlfriend sleep in, she didn't get to do it very often. But the brunette couldn't wait any longer. She softly crept into their bedroom, trying not to make too much noise. She paused to look at the blonde sleeping sweetly wrapped around Emily's pillow. She always looked so peaceful when she was asleep, so angelic.

Emily carefully slid on to the bed next to her girlfriend, carefully moving the hair from Alison's eyes and tracing the sides of her face with her fingertips. Alison started to stir immediately, and her eyes fluttered open. The smile Emily was met with when Alison registered who was in front of her was enough to make Emily's heart burst right out of her chest.

"Wake up babe," Emily said softly, "It's Christmas."

Alison pressed a soft kiss to Emily's fingertips.

"Is it?" she asked sarcastically.

"It is!" Emily said, excitedly, "Come on. You have to come see all that Santa brought."

Alison giggled softly and let Emily pull her, literally, out of bed. Emily took her hand and led her into the living room.

The breath was sucked right out of Alison's lungs at the sight of their house. It was as if overnight their entire house had been transformed into their very own Christmas village. There was actually snow, well albeit fake snow, but _snow_ nonetheless.

Every inch was decorated with every kind of decoration you could imagine. Their tree shined brightly and the ornaments glimmered in the sunlight. There was a fire roaring in their fireplace and the most amazing breakfast spread laid out on their coffee table.

And let's not forget the mountain of presents under the tree.

"Em," Alison said, tears welling up in her eyes.

Emily came up behind Alison and wrapped her arms around Alison's waist, holding her tightly against her chest. Emily pressed a kiss to Alison's neck and rested her head on her shoulder.

"When did you do all this?" Alison asked, turning in Emily's arms to face her.

"I might have been up all night," Emily said, averting Alison's eyes.

"Babe!" Alison yelled, laughing slightly.

"And I'd do it again and again every single year. As long as it means seeing that same smile on your face. You've never liked Christmas, because you never had a good one. But I'm here now, every day and for every Christmas. Forever. It took us longer than both of us would have liked to get to this place with each other, so I am not going to waste anymore time to make you ridiculously happy. By doing whatever I need to."

"It is ridiculous how much I love you," Alison said, tears streaming down her face.

"The feeling is mutual," Emily said, pressing a kiss to Alison's lips.

"You'll always be the best Christmas present I'll ever get," Alison said when she pulled away.

"Merry Christmas, babe," Emily said.

"Merry Christmas, baby."

 ** _and a very merry christmas & happy holidays to all of you. i hope you all enjoyed 25 days of emison. it was so much fun to do for you guys & i hope to make a repeat next year. hopefully we'll get some emison in the perfectionists. all my love xx_**


End file.
